Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Monday June 3,2013 Fairbanks, AK


Sheesh!  Long day in the saddle!  The miles just don’t melt away on the road like they used to.  Maybe it’s just the bike I’m riding.  It’s not exactly a luxo-barge like my Wing.  …or maybe I’m getting to old to be racking up hundreds of miles a day on a bike.  Doesn’t matter – I’m here, and the only way I’m going to get somewhere else is riding.  The only down side to this bike is the windshield on it is worthless.  All the wind is hitting me directly on the chest, and there is no adjustment.  It appears as though I’ll have to add more wind blocking layers.

Most of the day was spent northbound on Rt 1 zigzagging the Nanana River with mountains on either side.  We really didn’t run into any snow or ice still left on the sides of the road till we got to Talkeetna, but by the time we passed Denali Park, it warmed up nicely.  It was only the last hour or so that the trip actually became entertaining.  While most of it was spent going in a straight line, we finally got some big sweeping curves with clean pavement.  At 75 mph, the trip finally was starting to come together! 

Detached cabins for the night next to a large hotel.  Bunking with Larry (not the cable guy) for the night, but when we first walked into the room, we looked at each other in disgust.  One king size bed?!  Well – that’s NOT gonna work!!  We got that straightened away REAL quick!!  Now we have 2 king size beds.  Whew!

We meandered off to the detached restaurant/bar and enjoyed our first (of many) beers along the Chena River while we waited for the rest of the group for dinner.  Things seem to be going into later in the day than my previous motorcycle trips, and I can only hope that it slows down a bit so I can properly look back on things to document what transpired.  As it is right now, it’s late and I’m tired, but this is the first, and longest day (in terms of miles) that we have planned, so I can hope things slow down a bit.   Tomorrow, we travel to the Dalton Highway, the Arctic Circle, and on to Coldfoot.

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